Lieutenant Governor says compromise can be reached on budget

Governor Vilsack will order the legislature back to Des Moines for a special session starting next Monday to address concerns he has over the budget passed last week at the end of the regular session. Lieutenant Governor Sally Pederson says funding for education at all levels is severely under-funded and the results could hurt Iowa’s children. She hopes there can be a bi-partisan solution to the budget problems despite the politics of an election year. Pederson says she thinks when lawmakers are called back they’ll be ready to compromise. Pederson says the livestock bill passed during the regular session shows they can work together.Pederson says the state has the money to meet the needs. She says the money can come from the “rainy day fund” or other funds. Pederson says if those funds “if they’re not spent for this, they’re likely to be spent for some other purpose.”Pederson made her comments during a stop in Mason City Tuesday. Governor Vilsack’s asking legislative leaders to meet privately with him on Thursday and Friday to hammer out a compromise. But republicans don’t sound as hopeful as Pederson. Senate Republican Leader Stewart Iverson of Dowssays a special session will be fruitless, as republicans will refuse to borrow more from the state’s economic emergency fund, or redirect tax dollars earmarked for road construction.